Perhaps The Ting Tings waited so long to release their sophomore album, they began to deteriorate while posing for their album cover? That’s the only reason we can come up with for this crudely drawn cover art for Sounds From Nowheresville, the Brit duo’s follow-up to their smash debut We Started Nothing. Actually, the real story about how this morbid cover and its equally absurd title came to be awaits you below.

The cover art was created by Milan Abad, who submitted the piece under the band’s Show Us Yours campaign that asked young artists to submit photos, video and artwork for the album. “He produced a piece of artwork that is just amazing, and we fell in love with it, and it became the front cover,” Jules de Martino tells Spin. “It’s a totally cool piece, and it kind of transcends everywhere we are at the moment and what our album’s about.”

It’s endearing that the band wants to promote independent art and aspiring artists, but what was wrong with the colorful, simple art style seen on their “Hands” single cover?

Spin notes that although the band loved the song, it didn’t fit the vibe of the finished album. It will, however, appear as a bonus track. We’re just happy that the TLC-inspired tune “Day To Day” and the indie rock “Guggenheim” (which should definitely become a single) are still included.

As for the title of the album, Jules explains, “We spent so long on the road — recording music and touring — that the whole musical element of the album came from everywhere and nowhere.” Honestly, we much prefer their working title, Kunst, or even the fake title of Cocks de Martino joked to us during the band’s visit to Idolator HQ in November 2010.

Sounds From Nowheresville is due to drop February 27 in the UK and in March in the US.